Act on Special Confiscation has entered into force in Ukraine

18.04.2016

On April 7, the law on the procedure of arrest and special confiscation came into force. This law will legalize the confiscation of property from the defendant before the official verdict of the court. Furthermore, in accordance with the new legislation, the persons, whom the criminal case has been filed against in court, will be forbidden to restructure the property to a third party for the duration of investigation.

Let us remind: this law was adopted specifically in order to gain access to the funds of the runaway Yanukovych, who has about $2 billion stuck on his “Oshchandbank” accounts. Especially considering that the Government has already decided where this money should be applied: it will cover the expenses of the Defense Ministry and the police.

However, the Parliament managed to adopt the document only on fourth attempt, while the process of its adoption itself was filled with fighting. For example, Tatyana Chornovil (“People’s Front”) scratched the face of independent MP Jakov Bezbakh, who voted against, whereas one of the authors of the Act, Sergey Pashinskiy, almost got beat up right at the stand by his colleagues from “Self-Reliance”: the opponents of the bill were dissatisfied with the provision legalizing confiscation of property not just from the defendants, but even from the suspects. Moreso, the mechanism of cancellation of the confiscation, in case of the defendant being acquitted, has not been properly developed.

MPs are wary that the new law will grant the authorities with an opportunity to inflict vengeance on the opponents.